Unless you believe that the Habs fully intended to give up 54 shots on home ice to the Washington Capitals in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference series, it’s not hard to guess that Jacques Martin is pleading with his troops to tighten up substantially for Game 7.

To a large degree, by contrast, Bruce Boudreau’s Caps just need to keep doing what they’ve been doing — firing away.

Five goals against in two games (not counting the empty-netter in Game 6) and only 50 shots allowed certainly doesn’t suggest the Washington defence is quite the leaky vessel some would have you believe.

It’s the two goals on 92 shots they’ve managed in that pair of games that’s killing them.

It follows that the lone Montrealer who need not worry about improving his level of play from Games 5 and 6 would be goaltender Jaroslav Halak, whose Dryden-esque effort was marvellous to behold.

Nothing wrong with that, of course. As Pat Burns always said, the goalie’s part of the team, too.

Still, Halak has surely seen the peaks and valleys in this series, playing one brilliant game, two strong ones, one awful contest in which he surrendered six goals and a fifth start in which he was yanked after less than a half-game.

Perception, however, is reality to many, and perception is often skewed by the result. In this case, you have some suggesting Maxim Lapierre delivered a titanic performance in Game 6, rather than a pathetic one, with his repertoire of half-gainers and pirouettes landing him twice in the box for diving.

Others seem to believe that moving Travis Moen from one Canadiens line to another changed the series. C’mon, let’s be serious. And P.K. Subban? Very helpful to the Game 6 cause. Good energy. But he only played 10:02.

With the Caps averaging 42 shots per game, the series has been shaped by Montreal’s goaltending, both excellent and at times mediocre, and by the sense from the start that Washington simply didn’t feel comfortable with being assigned the role of playoff favourite.

The moment the playoffs began, it was as though the engines of both Mike Green and Alex Semin seized up. Jose Theodore lasted slightly more than a game. Thomas Fleischmann has been a rumour. Neither of Washington’s two key deadline additions — Eric Belanger and Joe Corvo — have made a significant impact.

The Caps have carried the play for the majority of the series, but the Canadiens have been more effective with the counterpunch, exploiting the tendency of Washington forwards to push hard up ice and not so hard the other way.

The confident, David vs. Goliath demeanours of Montreal’s Scott Gomez, Mike Cammalleri, Tomas Plekanec and Brian Gionta have spread to their teammates, and the same can be said for the contagious uncertainty of so many of Washington’s best.

Finally, the Habs have done most of their damage early in games. They’ve scored first in four of the six games, while the Caps have never led after the first period.

Game 7 will come down to Halak, and it will come down to Alex Ovechkin, who was widely regarded as the best player on the planet until he went to Vancouver for the Olympics. He scored in only one of four games and Russia, the team he was supposed to lead to gold, was unceremoniously booted out of the tournament in the quarter-finals.

Since returning to the NHL, he has only vaguely resembled the player he was before the Olympics. The goals and shots are there, but not the conviction, and a two-game suspension for hitting Chicago’s Brian Campbell seemed to make him less aggressive.

Well, he’s got to put all that aside now. His reputation is on the line. His rival Sidney Crosby, with a Stanley Cup ring already in his possession, enhanced his profile further with the golden goal in Vancouver.

In Game 7, Ovechkin now needs to demonstrate a will not to be denied and an ability to lead.

If he doesn’t, he might be playing for his country again (at the world championships in Germany) a lot sooner than he would ever have imagined.

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.